Drink Coffee Everyday!!!

According to a study done in 2005, "nothing else comes close" to providing as many antioxidants as coffee. While fruits and vegetables also have tons of antioxidants, the human body seems to absorb the most from coffee.

Researchers at the Seoul National University examined the brains of rats who were stressed with sleep deprivation and discovered that those who were exposed to coffee aromas experienced changes in brain proteins tied to that stress.

Science Daily reported in 2012 that drinking coffee may help people with Parkinson's disease control their movement. Ronald Postuma, MD, the study author, said, "Studies have shown that people who use caffeine are less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, but this is one of the first studies in humans to show that caffeine can help with movement symptoms for people who already have the disease."

A study published in 2006 that included 125,000 people over 22 years showed that those who drink at least one cup of coffee a day were 20 percent less to develop liver cirrhosis -- an autoimmune disease caused by excessive alcohol consumption that could lead to liver failure and cancer. 

Arthur L Klatsky, the lead author of the study, told The Guardian, "Consuming coffee seems to have some protective benefits against alcoholic cirrhosis, and the more coffee a person consumes the less risk they seem to have of being hospitalised or dying of alcoholic cirrhosis."

Studies have also shown that coffee can help prevent people from developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). An international team of researchers led by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School revealed that drinking four or more cups of coffee or tea a day may be beneficial in preventing the progression of NAFLD.

 A study done by the National Institute of Health found that those who drink four or more cups of coffee were about 10 percent less likely to be depressed than those who had never touched the java. And apparently it's not because of the "caffeine high" -- Coke can also give you a caffeine high, but it's linked to depression.

A study done by the Harvard School of Public Health determined that drinking between two and four cups of coffee can reduce the risk of suicide in men and women by about 50 percent. The proposed reason is because coffee acts as a mild antidepressant by aiding in the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline.

End of the week Tirade

 

I Don’t Give a Rat’s Rear End

As I look around at all the news this week and every week with which I have been bombarded, I find myself asking the same old question:  Have I really learned anything new?  And, every week, the answer is NO.  If I reflect upon the television, all the news channels broadcasting at various times report the same events with the only difference being that they are either slanted to the right or left or not at all which is actually the way they really should be.

When I reflect upon the news apps that I have on my phone which are:

• CNN
• CBS
• Washington Post
• USA Today
• WSJ
• AP
• Thomson
• Politico
• Drudge
• HuffPost

I also see the same stories with a wider selection provided by the bottom 3 but even their wider selection is similar; so, why have all these apps?  Well, there are different writers with different styles in writing is really the only major difference.  They all seem to have the same facts but some are longer than others as they tie in tangential information to make it more interesting.

It seems that this week, we are again focused on the:

1. Fiscal cliff
2. Turmoil in Egypt and issues with Morsi & the Brotherhood
3. Syria and possible use of chemical weapons
4. Professional football and basketball
5. The royal baby et al
6. John McAfee’s escape and capture
7. Where the Republicans went wrong
8. Some kind of celebrity issue

And, of course the EXPERT – everyone has an expert on the payroll that will slant comments in a predetermined direction.  BUT, everywhere one turns and looks and reads, it is only available in the sensational format; otherwise, we will lose interest and turn to another page or click the remote or select another app.

SOOOOOOOooooooooooo, let’s take a coffee break.

Having replaced the office coffee pot, single-cup coffee systems now want to conquer households. Already, 24% of U.S. homes are equipped with a single-cup coffee machine, making it second only to standard drip makers in terms of household penetration, according to market research firm Mintel.

Sales of single-serve coffee pods are soaring to an expected $1.8 billion this year—an almost fivefold increase from $381 million in 2010, Mintel says. Prices of some pods are slipping, though. Certain patents expired for the Keurig K-Cup, the product compatible with Keurig's first-generation single-cup system, touching off a potential avalanche of cheaper private-label cups.

The rise of single-cup brewing begs shoppers to do the math. Using one of the new single-cup machines to brew a serving of regular coffee costs anywhere from 55 cents to 80 cents, depending on the machine and the coffee. That compares with $2.65 or more for a "tall" coffee at a Starbucks shop.

By far, the most cost-effective option remains to brew a whole pot of coffee at home using a traditional method, at a cost of anywhere from a dime to a quarter per serving. But that assumes you drink the whole pot. The more-common scenario, as any coffee lover knows, is to brew a pot of coffee but only drink one or two cups, significantly raising the per-serving cost.

Let’s do the math…

But, let’s make some assumptions first:

• We purchase all our outside the home coffee at a Starbucks or Starbucks like coffee shop
• Cost of Starbucks or Starbucks like coffee is $2.65
• Cost of single cup coffee pods is $.65
• We drink 5 cups a coffee a day for 5 days a week or 25 cups each week
• Our single cup coffee pot will cost $225

Doing the math:

1. coffee outside the home will cost us $2.65 X 5 X 5 = $66.25
2. Brewing coffee at home will cost us $.65 X 5 X 5 = $16.25
3. Weekly difference = $50
4. Cost of machine = $225
5. Breakeven = 4.5 weeks

Click to enlarge

Granted, not all of your coffee is going to be drunk inside the home but if half is, then one could pay for the machine in a little over 2 months.

Granted, making a pot at a time is even cheaper but do any of us have that down to a science where each cup tastes the same.  It’s kinda like drinking wine, after drinking 2-3 glasses, it does not really matter how bad it tastes.

And, while this might not be the most interesting of topics, it got your mind off the crappy news for a while…